Dan Bowes, 32, was flying on a Jet2 flight to Dalaman when he suffered an allergic reaction – but wasn’t told his fit-to-fly form had been rejected until five minutes before boarding, he claims
A man claims he was “dumped” in Turkey after suffering an allergic reaction on his flight out of the UK.
Dan Bowes, 32, boarded a Jet2 flight in Newcastle bound for Dalaman Airport on July 9, with his best pal Clair.
But it wasn’t long into the journey that his throat began to swell. As he had never previously suffered any known allergies, apart from a bout of hayfever for the first time this year, he took an anti-histamine thinking the summer illness must be the cause.
He started breathing more deeply and heavily, and quickly realised he needed assistance.
Dan, from Consett, tells Chronicle Live: “I can’t fault what happened on the flight and the way the crew helped me, I was given oxygen and assisted by the staff, and there were also medical people waiting for me at the airport when we arrived. After this incident, I felt fine and had fully recovered, so felt like I could enjoy the rest of the trip.
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“The issues came when I was told by the Jet2 rep at our hotel in Marmaris on July 11 that I would need a fit to fly certificate, and a medical information form to be completed by a doctor so that I could fly back home at the end of the holiday.
“This was a big expense, £50 for the doctor call out and £500 for the certificate, and the doctor thought I had a throat infection but I didn’t believe that. I felt completely fine, and he was trying to give me two injections that I didn’t know what they were, so I refused this.
“He said because of that he couldn’t fill in the medical information form, but he did give me the completed fit to fly which he said was all I needed anyway. I took this back to the rep and she agreed that everything was fine so I felt like I had nothing to worry about.”
Dan was able to have fun on the remainder of his holiday, safe in the knowledge that he would be able to get home with no issues, or so he thought. It wasn’t until he was checking out on July 17 that the rep informed him that he would not be able to fly that day due to him not having a completed medical information form.
He continued: “I was able to get the medical information form filled in very quickly after that and I kept calling the customer service team every half an hour to check if it had gone through. We were told it would be ok so we got our scheduled transfer to the airport, and kept trying to get in touch to check this.
“It wasn’t until five minutes before boarding that I was informed that the form had been rejected and that I could not fly. We were then escorted out of the airport by security and dumped outside, with no support, it was completely surreal.
“By the time I was told we could have booked with another airline, it was too late at night and thankfully a local lad we met on the trip helped us to get some emergency accommodation for the night. The next morning, I sent the form in again, and finally, at around 6pm, it was approved.”
Dan was left exhausted and incredibly stressed by his ordeal, and almost had more trouble when his card would not go through to pay for his new flight, but thankfully, the kindness of another British person saw them pay for it and Dan transfer the money so he could finally get home.
He added: “I just couldn’t stop shaking and I broke down crying when my card wouldn’t work on top of everything else, it had just become a nightmare. We got back in the early hours of July 19, and I sent my complaint into Jet2 on the 21st, as I’m really not happy with the way I was dealt with and I still don’t know why the reaction happened.
“I wasn’t bothered about what happened on the flight there. It was everything that came after that, being dumped out of the airport like a criminal. I would seriously think twice about booking with Jet2 again, and would like an explanation and an apology from them for the whole awful experience.”
In response, Jet2 has explained that the team followed standard procedure, and could not allow Dan to travel due to him not having the medical information form, reaffirming that the health and safety of customers is the number one priority.
A Jet2 spokesperson told Chronicle Live.: “Due to Mr Bowes falling ill on his outbound flight, our team followed standard procedure and advised him that he would need a Medical Information Form (MEDIF) to be completed by a doctor for his return flight home.
“As the form was not completed, Mr Bowes was regrettably informed that he would not be able to travel on his inbound flight. The health and safety of our customers will always be our number one priority.
“Following receipt of Mr Bowes’ completed form, we are pleased to confirm he was able to travel with us the following day.”